Crime and politics

Fleeting moments
Justice (r) Markandey Katju, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, is a conscientious objector. In his article ‘Is the French revolution coming to India?’ (August 6, 2015), he observes the stark disparity that exists between the ultra rich of the Indian society and its dirt poor. He points out how majority among the ruling class remains oblivious to this shocking reality and is busy in filling its coffers. Justice Katju’s premonition that India is ripe for the French Revolution is worth pondering over.
Many of our politicians often quote Indian democracy as a shining example of what democracy is about and how smoothly it functions in India. That continuity of democratic process, unlike us, is ingrained in the Indian system of governance, which has brought all-round progress and enriched the lives of the Indian people.
Katju thinks otherwise. “...we have a parliament that hardly functions, with its members shouting and screaming, often all at the same time, and hardly any meaningful debate is held or business transacted there.”
How much legislation is carried out in our houses of parliament? People think these houses act more as clubs of the super rich rather than protectors of public interests. The only time these plutocrats unite is when they unanimously put up a show of hands to enhance their salaries and privileges. Some plutocrats don’t even attend parliament sessions; they never forget to claim their salaries, though. Indian MPs and ours seem to share many traits between them.
In Justice Katju’s words, “A large number of our MPs have criminal antecedents. We have politicians who are mostly incorrigible rogues and rascals with no genuine love for India, but who have looted the country, taking much of the country’s wealth to secret foreign banks and havens, and who know how to manipulate caste and communal vote banks, often by inciting caste or religious riots.”
What about the stolen wealth of our country parked in Swiss banks? We often hear that the government has contacted Swiss authorities to get back the wealth plundered from the country by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats – but nothing has moved on that front till now.
Politicians know they can easily evade justice. Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani who faces corruption charges, recently came out of the court making a ‘V’ sign. Surrounded by flunkeys, Gilani looked confident that he had eluded the system of justice yet again. Chief Justice Jawwad Khawaja recently lamented that there’s a huge gap between the rich and poor that needs to be bridged. What he meant was that plutocrats break the law with abandon and go home laughing, while the poor bear the full brunt of law.
People are becoming increasingly disappointed with the system of governance that fails to address their problems. For instance, instead of providing essential health and education facilities, which are the basic needs of any society, the government seems more interested in developing road network, overhead bridges and signal-free corridors. A few days back, the prime minister instructed the Punjab government to develop a new expressway from Islamabad to Murree.
Nawaz Sharif has loved Murree since his college days. His old chums in Model Town say there was a constant struggle between him and Aba Jee. Nawaz wanted to slip away to Murree whenever he could, and the senior Sharif had to keep a vigilant eye on him. Aba Jee, like others from the older generation, feared that frequenting Murree would spoil his son who had good looks, red cheeks, and blushed easily.
But Murree is not the only city in the country that needs prime ministerial attention. In the outskirts of Lahore are overflowing sewage drains that schoolchildren have to wade through every day on their way to school and back. One such drain passes through village Dina Nath close to the Motorway overhead bridge on Multan Road. The traffic chaos near the bus stand here is never ending.
However, as the security establishment launched an operation to clear the port city of the extortion mafia, target killings and lawlessness, politicians of affected parties came out to defend their interests. The ruling PPP has vehemently opposed the operation by the Rangers. So much so that the leader of the opposition, a PPP stalwart, Khursheed Shah indirectly questioned the security establishment if the country was more important or the institution. And that if the country didn’t exist, how would the institution.
Many of these leaders began their careers as men from humble origins and then reached dizzying heights – despite the lack of continuity in the democratic system. Good reason to ‘save the system’.
But operation cleanup has been mounted against the crime syndicates, the land grabbing mafia and target-killers. Why should it incense the politicians? Is there a nexus between high crime and politics?
Justice Katju suggests there’s a strong link between organised crime and politics in India and the two are hand-in-glove with each other. What about us? The port city and economic hub of the country – Karachi – had been an arena of organised crime right under the highly politicised police force and its patrons. The Rangers had not moved in when the army chief said that the police in Karachi had to be depoliticised to cleanse the mega city of the social maladies afflicting it. Everyone knew something big was afoot. All hail the decision.
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore. Email: pinecity@gmail.com